The Boy
by meruhen
Summary: There's always a boy on the rooftop when Yukimura seeks peace.


**Title:** The Boy

**Fandom:** Prince of Tennis

**Character(s) or Pairing:** Yukimura, Fuji

**Rating:** PG

**Warnings:** Likely oocness

**Word Count:** 1600

**Summary:** There's always a boy on the rooftop when Yukimura seeks peace.

**A/N:** Written for an image challenge for a private challenge community.

---

There are a few days when Yukimura discovers the strength to make it to the roof of the hospital, but usually then, he has to sit down, take a break - a long break - before returning to his room.

The nurses often come looking for him, out on the rooftop, when he doesn't return for a while, and so he's never startled when the door opens, and even shifts to greet the nurse, with a smile on his lips and a polite greeting on his tongue.

But this time, the words die before he has a chance to speak them, because it is not one of the nurses coming to find him, but another boy his age, one who does not look like he belongs in the hospital; the patients and the visitors are easy to pick out.

"Hello," the boy says, and his smile changes a little, Yukimura notices, becomes slightly less fake. Only slightly, because it is still a fake smile - but some warmth is there.

Yukimura nods in return and lets the smile fade from his lips as he studies this boy. Closed eyes - like Renji, Yukimura thinks, and his eyes narrow slightly - and a pleasant, but still fake, smile. Pretty, much like him, in that feminine way: Yukimura knows not to take anyone who looks like they could break in a strong wind lightly. It has happened to him too much for him to do the same. This boy's appearance puts Yukimura on his guard: he is not wary, yet, but he is ready for anything.

"You are Rikkaidai's Yukimura," the boy says, which surprises Yukimura, the fact that someone knows who he is. And although Yukimura is sure his surprise doesn't show - knows it, in fact - the boy chuckles. "Your teammates are inside looking for you. It was a guess. I am right."

"You are," Yukimura says softly. "Who are you?"

The boy is left with no time to respond, for the door is slamming open behind him, and Sanada is there.

"Yukimura," Sanada says, stepping past the boy. "You shouldn't be up here." He waits for nothing, but helps Yukimura stand, and directs him back into the hospital.

-

The boy finds Yukimura on the rooftop again, a week later; maybe more, maybe less. Yukimura never pays attention to the time while he is in the hospital, living by the news his friends bring him of tournaments and practices. All he knows is that time has passed and he is once again back on the roof, seeking some peace from the hospital and everything it is.

When he's on the roof, Yukimura can close his eyes and pretend he isn't in the hospital. It's not very comforting, because it an escape and in the end, Yukimura does not like such escapes and fantasies, but it's better than remembering that at times, it's hard for him to walk.

The door opens and closes and just from the footsteps - the way they stop, the way they start again and approach - Yukimura knows that it's not one of the nurses nor one of his team. They would be rushing toward him; Sanada would be scolding, Akaya clinging to him, Renji shaking his head silently, the others grouping around him.

Yukimura speaks even before the boy reaches his side, pushing aside all of the thoughts to concentrate instead on the here and now. "Who are you?" he asks, and turns his head, when the boy is leaning against the side of the stairs next to him. He looks the same as he did before, the same closed-eyed, smiling expression and uniform that brings up vague hints in Yukimura's mind but he can't place them.

"It's a nice day," he says instead of answering the question, and looks at Yukimura for a moment. "I would rather be here than inside."

"The hospital gets to be quite dull." Yukimura doesn't press his question and instead turns his attention, and gaze, to something else. "But you have no need to be here - why, even, are you here?"

"My sister," the boy says, by way of explanation, and that's all he says. Silence falls over the two of them. It's a comfortable silence, something Yukimura never minded, especially after the noise of the hospital. Never loud, but always there - sometimes Yukimura thinks he escapes to the rooftop just to get some peace. It stays that way until the boy shifts and straightens up to leave. Yukimura isn't sure how much time had passed, and he doesn't really care; but he had started counting - perhaps Renji was rubbing off on him? - the times he felt the boy's gaze on him.

"I think I see your teammates coming, down the street," the boy says. "You might want to go back inside before they find you out here."

-

It's a week or two, and Yukimura thinks it's more like two because a tournament and a cancellation have passed, before he sees the boy again, and he still doesn't know the boys name or what school he goes to, although the uniform still nags at Yukimura's mind.

"You're here again," the boy says, because Yukimura hadn't even spoken, waiting to see if the other would speak first.

"It's more enjoyable up here, than inside," Yukimura responds in mimic of the boys words the previous week, and he sees a glimmer of blue behind the boy's bangs, and sees the smile curve up just a little, in amusement. "Is your sister in the hospital again?"

"Ah no. This time I am visiting a friend, but he has other company and I decided to see if you were here."

"You came up here just to see me, boy who refuses to tell me his name?" Yukimura laughs. "I don't know if I should feel lucky to have such dedicated company or if I should worry."

"Feel lucky," the boy responds. "I wouldn't come up here for anyone."

"But that could be both good and bad."

"You'll just have to trust that it's for good, then." The boy moves from the stairs, setting down a tennis bag - for some reason, Yukimura isn't surprised to see it - and kneels to dig a camera out of it, which does surprise Yukimura in the same way that having a stranger appear, that first time the boy was up on the rooftop, surprised him.

"Do you mind?" the boy asks, gesturing to his camera, and steps to the edge of the roof when Yukimura shakes his head, leaning against the fence there to snap a picture of the street.

The clicking of the camera and the sounds of the shutter going off are nowhere near as bad as the hushed voices in the hospital halls or the sounds of the monitors and they don't disturb Yukimura as he thinks, until the boy is saying "Do you mind?" and Yukimura looks up, just in time for the camera to go off.

"Thank you," the boy says, and turns off the camera. He disappears without another word, although Yukimura soon forgets about it, because his team descends on him after a few minutes, Marui shoving a box of cake in his face and talk flying over his head.

-

It's a few weeks; Yukimura has taken to counting the days again, because each day is one closer to the time he can be out of the hospital, and so he knows that it's been more than two weeks, but the boy doesn't come back.

There are times when Yukimura starts to wonder if he was imagining things. And that doesn't fit well on his shoulders.

"-Buchou, there were these rumors going around that Fuji Syuusuke entered a picture of you in the photo competition at Seigaku so Fuku-buchou and Yanagi-senpai and I went to see it and then Niou-senpai and Yagyuu-senpai decided to tag along and Sanada-fuku-buchou made Jackal-senpai come to keep an eye on me and Marui-senpai wanted to come too so everyone thought we were going to beat up the tennis players for winning - which I wanted to do, and Niou-senpai suggested a prank but Yanagi-senpai said no." Akaya's voice cuts into Yukimura's reverie and the boy is spilling everything out in a rush of air, leaving Yukimura almost unable to understand him, until he reaches over to place a hand on Akaya's shoulder, effectively silencing him.

"What's this about a photo?" Yukimura asks. "And speak a little slower, Akaya, so I can understand you. I'm not going anywhere, you don't have to rush to tell me."

Akaya launches into his explanation again, a little slower this time, ending with "So we went to see the photo exhibition, and there it was! A picture of you. Buchou, I didn't know you knew that Seigaku player." Akaya's frowning by the end of it, staring at Yukimura, in hopes of getting some explanation of why Seigaku has a picture of his buchou on their walls.

"Fuji Syuusuke?" Yukimura repeats, and then laughs. "Thank you Akaya, you just answered a question for me." Yukimura hugs him, and Akaya still doesn't have any answers, but for the moment, it doesn't matter.

Yukimura glances over Kirihara's head to the doorway, and sees the boy. This time, his eyes are open wide and there is a smile - not a fake one either, the first one the boy had greeted him with - and he raises his hand in a greeting, before disappearing back into the doorway.

"Fuji Syuusuke," Yukimura murmurs. "I hope we meet again."


End file.
